is embarking on an ambitious plan to use nuclear power as the nation's next big power source. the plan comes as demands for energy grow and objections to nuclear energy grow with it. witt johnson reports. >> reporter: with u.s. energy demand expected to increase by 21% in the next two decades, nuclear power has been staging a quiet comeback. president obama has called for billions in loan guarantees to build new nuclear reactors. but past disasters, like fukushima, japan, three-mile island, and chernobyl, have made americans fearful of nuclear energy. not one plant has gone online in the u.s. since 1996. >> that's basically a representation of the core. >> reporter: that's about to change. westinghouse ceo showed us the high-tech simulated control room for the ap1000. >> the u.s. fleet right now is about twice as safe as required by law. the ap1000 is 100 times safer. >> reporter: that claim will be put to the test when the very first goes online in china in two years. then by 2016 in georgia, two ap1000 reactors are scheduled to begin operation. >> no nuclear power plant is w